Report: 49ers showed interest in Jets’ Jeff Ulbrich for defensive coordinator position

Jeff Ulbrich isn’t leaving New York anytime soon. But for a quick moment, there was interest from a team in bringing him across the country.

According to Zach Rosenblatt of The Athletic, the San Francisco 49ers had some interest in Ulbrich, or were at least toying with the idea of bringing him in to replace Steve Wilks as their defensive coordinator.

Of course, if the 49ers wanted to go after Ulbrich, they would have needed permission from the Jets to talk to him. In all likelihood, the Jets would have blocked the 49ers from doing so, as teams can prevent such talks with other teams if the position would not be a promotion. In this case, it would have been a lateral move.

The San Francisco 49ers hired Nick Sorensen as their new defensive coordinator, but not before doing their due diligence on other options. That included Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich. There was mutual interest in exploring a marriage, according to multiple league sources, but ultimately the Jets made it clear that they were not going to let Ulbrich leave. 

The 49ers never made a request to interview Ulbrich regardless. They ultimately decided to promote Nick Sorensen to defensive coordinator. Sorensen spent 2023 as the defensive passing game specialist and nickels coach.

Depending on how 2024 plays out, Ulbrich could be in the head-coaching mix for 2025. For now, he’s not going anywhere anytime soon.